A look back at the expansion year that was for the Montreal Impact.
It is hard to believe March 10 was eight months ago. It seemed as if all the pre-season hype surrounding the Montreal Impact was only last week. After the 34th and final match on October 27, the Impact's inaugural season officially came to a close.
Pre-season
On May 7, 2010, MLS Commissioner Don Garber announced Montreal would become the league's 19th franchise. Preparations for the expansion season started as early as August 2011 when the club selected Jesse Marsch to be the head coach. Two months later, the first batch of players signed on starting with Nelson Rivas and followed by Hassoun Camara, Evan Bush and Sinisa Ubiparipovic.
Related: John Molinaro reviews the Montreal Impact
In November 2011, the club acquired more players through the Expansion Draft and trades. Out of the 10 picks of the draft, only Zarek Valentin, Justin Mapp, Sanna Nyassi, Josh Gardner, Jeb Brovsky and Collen Warner completed the season. Davy Arnaud was also acquired that month from Sporting Kansas City.
In the months leading up to the first match against the Vancouver Whitecaps, the squad started to complete itself. Felipe, Patrice Bernier, Greg Sutton and Shavar Thomas all joined soon after. Andrew Wenger and Calum Mallace were both picked up via the SuperDraft in January. Finally right before the season started, Matteo Ferrari signed on. Bernardo Corradi followed two weeks later.
Regular Season
The season started with a 0-2 loss to Vancouver at BC Place. In the first five matches, the Impact could only earn a point, which came in the home opener at Olympic Stadium in-front of 58, 912 people. The club's first victory came against rivals Toronto FC on April 7. Ubiparipovic and Wenger scored in Montreal's 2-1 win. The five matches after TFC, the Impact only lost once.
May was a big month for the club. The team won for the first time on the road, participated in the Canadian Championship, hosted the LA Galaxy with 60, 860 people inside the Big O and more importantly, the club signed their first Designated Player, striker Marco Di Vaio.
With a long international break, the team's first game in June was on the 16th. They hosted the Seattle Sounders in the first match at Stade Saputo. The club also signed their first Academy player earlier in the month. Canadian Karl Ouimette graduated to the senior squad.
July was a month of roster moves with the most important being defender Alessandro Nesta who signed from AC Milan. Dennis Iapichino was always signed. Justin Braun, Tyson Wahl and Bobby Burling all left the club permanently. Miguel Montaño and Bryan Arguez were loaned out.
From the end of July and all through August, the Impact had their best spell of football, winning five consecutive matches. This put them back in the playoff race. In the six remaining matches, Montreal did not pick up another victory, losing and drawing three times. They were officially eliminated from playoff contention on October 6 after a 1-1 draw at Houston.
The Impact finished their inaugural season with a record of 12 wins, 16 losses and six draws, good for seventh place in the Eastern Conference. The club scored 45 times, right around the median, but conceded 51 goals, the fourth worst of the league.
Post-Season
Following the final regular season match on October 27, the club named Canadian Patrice Bernier the MVP of the year and he was awarded the Communitarian Award a few days later at the post-mortem.
Also since then, the Impact made some more roster moves. They said Shavar Thomas, Josh Gardner and Canadian Evan James would not be returning to the team. Thomas made 15 appearances, Gardner made six and James did not play a single minute.
Veterans Greg Sutton and Eduardo Sebrango have retired. Both look like they will enter the coaching world. Sutton is currently the assistant coach of Concordia University's men's soccer team; head coached by former Impact player Lloyd Barker. Sebrango was supposed to coach in the Impact Academy at the beginning of the year, but ended up being awarded a professional contract.
The biggest news came on the morning of November 3. A last-minute press-conference was called 15 hours before the announcement took place. President Joey Saputo announced head coach Jesse Marsch would not be returning to the team.
This was the announcement Saputo made to the media.
“It is important to clarify that this is not a dismissal or a resignation, but rather an amicable parting of ways,” he said. “Although the decision was a tough one to make, it was made mutually for the benefit of the club. While we had the same long-term objectives for this team, we realized
Montreal will cap off the 2012 season by travelling to Italy for a mini-camp. They will be there from November 5-17. During the camp, they will play current Serie A sides Bologna FC, Di Vaio's last club, and rematch AC Fiorentina, who they drew at home in 2010.
Analysis
There are a few ways of looking at the Impact's expansion year. At the beginning of the year, without a signed DP, it was hard to believe Montreal would have been successful right off the bat. The squad was completely brand new, only a few players had chemistry playing together, and the team had a first-year head coach. As expected, the team started slow and only started mold together at the midway point of the season.
Things changed at that point. Montreal made some good roster moves, signing proven Serie A superstars Di Vaio and Nesta and getting rid of players who did not fit the team's system. On paper, the Impact had one of the best sides in the league. Also around this time, Marsch finally found a formation that complimented the squad.
With a new formation and a bolstered lineup, Montreal started to enjoy success. Another deciding factor was that the team played most their matches in this span at home. Throughout the entire months of June and July, the Impact played 11 matches, seven of which were at home. These matches were all held a Stade Saputo, a place where Montreal turned into a top-side.
On the road, it was a completely different team. The Impact finished with only two wins away from home. In fact, they claimed nine of a possible 51 points on the road. In the team's defense, road matches in the MLS are significantly tougher than other leagues. Whether this is because of the longer distances that have to be travelled, only two teams this season finished with a positive away record.
In terms of on-field play, the Impact are starting to develop their own style. The more and more matches played, especially at home, Montreal is becoming a possession-dominant team. With three central midfielders - one attacking and two defending - the team is able to keep the ball for a good amount of time. The Impact looks to play on the grass instead of looking for aerial options. It takes the right kind players to do this. With Felipe, they certainly have a player capable of dictating the nature of play. Bernier could also step into this role.
The club already stated at the post-mortem that they are looking for a few more players to reinforce the squad. A natural number 10 playmaker is still missing in the roster and is definitely on the Impact's shopping list.
The areas that need to improve are mostly at the back. With players like Rivas, Ferrari and Nesta, the Impact should not have been as poor as they were. The back line was inconsistent, sometimes proving how strong they are and at other times displaying their disorganization and vulnerability. Like most teams, set-pieces were also a major problem.
Another thing to improve is certainly how the team performs in the final 15 minutes of the match. Montreal were one of the league's worst teams when it came to allowing goals in the dying seconds. This caused the team to lose many valuable points, especially on the road.
Before leaving the team, Marsch acknowledged areas where the team needs to improve.
"I think it's about figuring out how to finish games off, elevating the way we play, our ability to create chances, being able to hold onto games for 90 minutes, full concentration and set-pieces. There are a few things to cover."
All this and not meeting objectives could be the reasons why Marsch is not the team's head coach anymore.
Although, missing out on the playoffs is apparently not the reason Marsch had to leave the club, President Joey Saputo was not satisfied with a seventh place finish With the squad he has, he has a point.
"I would like to say that I am pleased with things as we attained our objective of being a competitive team in our very first season," he said."But at the same time, I am not satisfied because I felt that we are not a seventh place team. Our objective for 2013 is to qualify for the playoffs."
Everything that needs to improve is all mostly head coach related, but at the same time it is not entirely Marsch's fault.
It took too long for the team to find the right formation. At the beginning of the season, the Impact were playing a 4-4-2. This is the best formation to start with, but after a couple matches, it was evident the club couldn't play with two strikers. Many players were out of position as a result. For example, Sanna Nyassi was always playing striker instead of being on one of the flanks where he could use his pace.
With a couple of injuries, or when Rivas, Ferrari and Nesta were all healthy, Marsch had trouble setting up the back line. The starting defenders changed from match to match and it was tough to find the proper balance. This led to the many of the inconsistencies the team faced at the back.
In terms of finishing the games strong, it was as much mental as it was physical. The team did start to slow down physically and were sometimes visibly tired. This could be why physical preparation coach Adam Rotchstein is not returning. In terms of the mental aspect, it didn't seem like there was a sort of game plan for the different scenarios. Whether the Impact had a lead, were losing or were tied, the team never really altered their tactics in the final minutes. Substitutions did not always come at a good time. They were sometimes used when they shouldn't have been. A manager is always taking a risk when switching players so late in the match.
As mentioned before, Marsch wasn't the only one to blame. If he had this current squad back in March, things would have most likely turned out differently. Marsch is still a young coach and has shown plenty of potential. His lack of experience, plus big expectations result wise, made his job very tough.
Marsch was always humble and took the blame for everything that was not going to plan.
"I'm critical on myself," he said."Every mistake the team makes, I think about what I could have done better. I think that it's been a great learning experience for me this year. I've tried to get better every day."
Marsch has come a long way and should be able to find success managing future teams.
The decision to part ways with Marsch surprised everyone and it did not go down well with club supporters. In my opinion, letting Marsch go was an acceptable decision. The club is aiming for higher objectives and it would have been hard for Marsch to continue. It came down to results, and given the squad the Impact have, Saputo is right believing the team could have done better.
It now comes down to who Montreal brings in. Marsch's inexperience and philosophy were issues, so the club should be looking at bringing in an experienced manager. Obviously, the decision to let go of Marsch after one season will only be justified once the 2013 kicks off.
Until then, the Montreal Impact will have another busy off-season. With higher standards and objectives set, it will be interesting to see the changes that are in-store for the club.
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